GS4 PYQ (Mains Answer Writing): Representation in Democracy | UPSC Mains: Ethics, Integrity & Aptitude PDF Download

In a modern democratic polity, there is a concept of the political executive and permanent executive elected people's representatives form the political executive and bureaucracy form the permanent executive. Ministers frame policy decisions and bureaucrats execute these. In the initial decades after independence, the relationship between the permanent executives and the political executives were characterized by mutual understanding, respect, and cooperation, without encroaching upon each other's domain. However, in subsequent decades, the situation has changed.
There are instances of the political executive insisting upon the permanent executives to follow its agenda. Respect for an appreciation of upright bureaucrats has declined. There is an increasing tendency among the political executive to get involved in routine administrative matters such as transfers, posting etc. Under this scenario, there is a definitive trend towards 'politicization of bureaucracy'. The rising materialism and acquisitiveness in social life has also adversely impacted upon the ethical values of both the permanent executive and the political executive. What are the consequences of this 'politicization of bureaucracy? Discuss (UPSC MAINS GS 4)

In a democracy, power vests with the people. This power is exercised through its elected representatives who have the mandate to govern them for a specific period. The civil services by virtue of its knowledge, experience and understanding of public affairs assist the elected representatives in formulating policy and are responsible for implementing these policies. Parliamentary democracies are usually characterized by a permanent civil service which assists the political exective.
Some advantages of having an independent, permanent and impartial civil service are as follows: 

• The spoils system has the propensity to degenerate into a system of patronage, nepotism and corruption. Having a credible recruitment process through an impartial agency provides a defence against such abuse. 
• Public policy today has become a complex exercise requiring in-depth knowledge and expertise in public affairs. A permanent civil service provides continuity and develops expertise as well as institutional memory for effective policy making. 
• A permanent and impartial civil service is more likely to assess the long-term social payoffs of any policy whereas the political executive may have a tendency to look for short term political gain. 
• A permanent civil service helps to ensure uniformity in public administration and also acts as a unifying force particularly in vast and culturally diverse nations. 
• A permanent civil service like any other reputable profession is likely to evolve over time an ethical basis for its functioning Areas of Friction: The key areas of potential conflict in the relationship between the political executive and the permanent civil service can be identified as follows: 
• The concept of neutrality 
• Appointments/Recruitment to the civil services 
• Transfers and postings of civil servants Consequences of politicization of bureaucracy: Unfortunately, this vision of civil service neutrality no longer holds good. Changes in governments particularly at the state level often lead to wholesale transfer of civil servants. Political neutrality is no longer the accepted norm with many civil servants getting identified, rightly or wrongly, with a particular political dispensation. 
• There is a perception that officers have to cultivate and seek patronage from politicians for obtaining suitable positions even in the Union Government. As a result, the civil services in public perception are often seen as increasingly politicized. When we say that bureaucracy has been politicized, we mean that its decisions are not guided only by values of civil services like impartiality, objectivity, anonymity etc. but it also factors in its own political biases. 
• It allows itself to be swayed by political values of the government in passing its judgments over programs of the government. It attempts to justify or reject the programs of government not only on its merits or demerits but also on political motivations. Rather than being driven by free and fair objective assessment of government programs, it attempts to prepare conducive reports that morph facts. 
• This is against the value of honesty. Its work doesn’t remain dispassionate anymore. In its interaction with people also, a politicized bureaucracy will be discriminatory. It will prefer a certain section of society or some particular individuals based on instructions of the government in distribution of public goods and services. It won’t be able to uphold equality before law not will it be able to do justice. 
• For instance, there have been accusations of police being playing at the hands of political class during riots and allowing certain section of society to be victimized. Allocation of water and electricity is normally decided based on electoral considerations of the political elite. In return, bureaucrats often get favorable transfers and lucrative postings that is in hands of political class. This arbitrary and non-merit based decision demotivates honest civil servants who want to work in line with constitutional ideals and uphold values of civil services. This may also create crisis of conscience in some upright bureaucrats. 
• Those not complying with the political instructions may be brought to book and disciplined subsequently. They may face harassment in forms of frequent transfers and postings. From the perspective of people, a politicized bureaucracy won’t be able to enjoy respect and trust. Its decisions will be seen as biased. Hence, compliance will not be high. This may become a loop in which legitimacy of state will decline with time. 

Conclusion 

• In this process, what may possibly guard the civil servant, and through him the public interest, is the ethical competence of the bureaucrat. 
• If a civil servants imbibes in spirit the values of public life like honesty, integrity, transparency, selflessness etc., one can better resist the temptations of material and non-material allurements. One has to be of high character to uphold one’s value system and work towards spirit of constitution amidst politicization of bureaucracy. As discussed above, there should be adequate mechanisms in place to protect an honest civil servants also to avoid arm-twisting by political executive. Other than ethical reforms, there may also be some institutional reforms that may shield bureaucrats from political interference. 
• There is a need to safeguard the political neutrality and impartiality of the civil services. The onus for this lies equally on the political executive and the civil services. This aspect should be included in the Code of Ethics for Ministers as well as the Code of Conduct for Public Servants. It is essential to lay down certain norms for recruitment in government to avoid complaints of favouritism, nepotism, corruption and abuse of power. 
• These norms are: 
  • Well-defined procedure for recruitment to all government jobs. 
  • Wide publicity and open competition for recruitment to all posts. 
  • Minimization, if not elimination, of discretion in the recruitment process. 
  • Selection primarily on the basis of written examination or on the basis of performance in existing public/board/university examination with minimum weight to interview. 
• The National Commission to Review the Working of the Constitution made the following observations regarding transfers and postings of civil servants that arbitrary and questionable methods of appointments, promotions and transfers of officers by political superiors also led to corrosion of the moral basis of its independence.